At the just concluded Umno General Assembly, party president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi vowed that Umno would push for amendment of the Federal Constitution “in a bid to empower Shariah law”, should his party form a super majority in Parliament following GE15. More on this in a while.

Earlier, in fact five days before Zahid’s remarks, PAS (which at the moment is still Umno’s partner in Muafakat Nasional albeit in a very rocky situation) had revealed that it was aiming to win two-thirds majority in the next general election (with the help of its allies) in order to redraw election boundaries “in a way that will benefit Muslims”.

PAS central committee member Khairuddin Aman Razali, who is also a federal minister in the Perikatan Nasional government, is on record saying apart from changing electoral boundaries to benefit Muslims, “we also need to increase the number of parliamentary seats in Malay-majority areas”.

Based on the last time redelineation exercises were conducted, electoral boundaries cannot be changed until 2023 for Sarawak, 2025 for Sabah and 2026 for Peninsular Malaysia. 

Therefore, Khairuddin’s suggestion that a two-thirds majority is needed possibly signal that PAS has the intention of amending the Federal Constitution to allow electoral borders to be redrawn earlier, according to Malaysiakini. Like what Umno wants to do, if I may add, to amend the Constitution that is.

Anyway, let’s call a spade a spade and call what Khairuddin and PAS want to do is – gerrymandering, which is defined by many (here I quote Wikipedia) as “a practice intended to establish an unfair political advantage for a particular party or group by manipulating the boundaries of election districts which is most commonly used in first-past-the-post electoral systems”.

Redelineation has always been “linked” (for want of a better word) to gerrymandering, and by saying what he said, openly at that, Khairuddin seems to be “proving right such allegations”, if you like.

One needs not be an expert in politics to see where PAS is heading. It’s clear the party is targeting Malay votes (as always) come the election.

Back to Zahid. In making the pledge to “empower shariah law” via an amendment to the Constitution, the Umno president told delegates at the assembly that Umno “must fulfill its role as the defender of Islam, as the oldest Malay political party”.

Like PAS, as if we do not know, Umno is also aiming for Malay votes, as always, but more so now under current circumstances.

Unlike in the past when Umno could bank on non-Malay support “courtesy” of being in government as well as “work” rendered by its friends in BN, it’s a different story now. Hence the need to muster Malay votes big time.

And the thinking was that a pact with PAS would get the desired result, resulting in Muafakat Nasional. Both Umno and PAS believe the two of them working together will get overwhelming Malay-Muslim support. Quite a number of analysts and political observers share that view.

However, both know all too well they need non-Malay support if it were to rule the country, this despite saying solid Malay support will pull them through.

As I see it, this desire by PAS and Umno to amend the Constitution to so- called “strengthen Islam” would make many a non-Malay (voters or otherwise) uneasy, and wary, to put it mildly. 

Am I right to say it would not matter to non-Malay interests whether Umno and PAS combined in Muafakat Nasional or go separate ways? Would the implications be the same?

Because of PAS’ insistence of being friends with Bersatu, Muafakat Nasional is cracking up. The Umno assembly has endorsed the move to cut ties with Bersatu and has given the mandate to the party leadership to set a timeline to sever ties.

PAS, however, still wants to swim in both pools, or as the Malays say it, “berenang dalam dua kolam“. 

And at the assembly, Umno wanted PAS to make a choice – them or Bersatu. So far, the only reaction from party president is a simple “wait and see”.

Umno has also decided to go it alone in facing GE15 under BN.

What do their partners in BN, namely MCA and MIC, have to say to this? Both are represented, meager it may be, in the Perikatan Nasional helmed by Bersatu’s president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Umno will contest all seats held by Bersatu. Will MCA and MIC support Umno? If the answer is yes, that would mean giving up the cabinet positions. Are they willing to do that?

As I write this, there has been no response from MCA and to an extent, MIC. If I may use the overused – the silence is deafening.

More importantly, what do MCA and MIC have to say of Umno’s intention to empower shariah law?

I would say they would surely know the sentiments of the non-Malays on the issue. Both parties claim they are here to take care of non-Malay interests, right?

It’s a political headache, no doubt.

And the headache will get worse for them should Umno and PAS decide to remain “married” in Muafakat Nasional although they seem to be heading for a divorce.

But again, it will not matter to MCA and MIC. Whether the two Malay parties combine or separate, the problem at hand will still be at hand. The headache will always be there.

(Mohsin Abdullah is a veteran journalist and now a freelancer who writes about this, that and everything else.)